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Rivers of Memory, Currents of Myth + performance by Coby Sey (15)

Project a Black Planet

,Cinema 2
Animated frogs

Across these four films, memory and myth operate not simply as reflections of the past, but as active processes through which histories are reimagined and cultural identities are formed. 

Spanning different times and geographies, the films explore how lived experience is reconstructed through animation, montage, and oral testimony, highlighting the importance of imagination in engaging with diasporic histories.

From Ibrahim Shaddad's surreal meditation on the inner life of a camel to Moustapha Alassane's playful stop-motion allegory rooted in Niger's wrestling traditions, these films transform historical experience into something symbolic and open-ended.

Bookending the programme, Dreaming Rivers and Okay Keskidee! Let Me See Inside bring these questions into a UK context, tracing the legacies of migration and the intergenerational shaping of Black British identity.

Tagged with: Cinema Project a Black Planet Film Season

The screening is accompanied by a performance by Coby Sey, in response to Dreaming Rivers.

Book two or more films in the Project a Black Planet film programme at the same time and get 20% off.

 

Programme

Okay Keskidee! Let Me See Inside, dir Rhea Storr, UK, 2025, 20 mins

A Camel, dir Ibrahim Shadded, Sudan, 1981, 15 mins

Kokoa, dir Moustapha Alassane, Niger, 1985, 13 mins

Dreaming Rivers, dir Martina Attille, UK, 1988, 30 mins

Coby Sey is a songwriter, producer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and DJ, who, after years spent buzzing around the DIY artist circuitry of South East London, has developed a distinctive presence as an artist and performer.

Coby’s recorded work spans the realms of live instrumentation, sample-based productions and experimental music, melding recognisable motifs of hip-hop, noise, jazz and grime into a dubbed-out anaesthesia. 

On stage, the dreamlike compositions are imbued with a heavy, uneasy dancefloor energy, and fleshed out by live instrumentation courtesy of his revolving band of close South East London cohorts including Alpha Maid, Ben Vince, Charlie Hope, CJ Calderwood and Momoko Gill.

Coby’s open-door approach to sharing and making music is evident in his long-term collaborations with Mica Levi and Tirzah, as well as with GAISTER, Speakers Corner Quartet, Klein, TYSON, Laurel Halo and more. He is also a founding member of London’s CURL collective (with Mica and Brother May), and hosts a monthly radio show on NTS, offering a peek into his appealingly murky musical world.

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Cinema 2

Location
Barbican Cinema 1 is located within the main Barbican building on Level -2. Head to Level G and walk towards the Lakeside Terrace where you’ll find stairs and lifts to take you down to the venue floor.   

Address
Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8DS

Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.